TOMMY GARCIA / FOX(NEW YORK) — Actor Cory Michael Smith plays Edward Nygma, aka The Riddler, one of the many over-the-top villains on FOX’s Batman-universe spin-off, Gotham.
Smith’s certainly not the first actor to play the role: Frank Gorshin played it on the campy 1960s Batman TV series, and Jim Carrey took a spin in 1995’s Batman Forever. Smith said while he’s a Carrey fan, having grown up watching Carrey classics like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask, he intentionally avoided revisiting Carrey’s take on the character.
“For me it was also just self-preservation. Like, steer clear,” Smith says. “‘Cause if I saw him do it, it would just be, this kind of like reaction that I would be imitating him, and I didn’t wanna mess with that.”
You can tell Smith takes seriously the responsibility of tackling the role, and acknowledges the pressure that brings.
“If you take an iconic character like this and you do it terribly? Or in a way where most people think you are wrong, when people look at you and are like, ‘Meh, that’s just off the mark, man,’ he says, “I just feel like that, you know, that can be a devastating setback to a young career.
Nygma’s only one of the scenery-chewing villains Gotham is known for. Smith says if it looks like he’s having a blast playing part, it’s because he is.
“When he gets to be a bit of a showboat, I have a blast,” he says. “There’s something about this character, when he just gets to be so cocky and then the rug gets pulled out from under him? It’s a very satisfying thing.”
Gotham airs Thursday nights at 8:00 ET/7:00 CT on FOX.
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